Oddly Enough
by Morphimal
Summary: Od meets a new student that may bring him out of his funk...if only the new kid felt the same way....


Od sighed happily, stretching out to lean against a tree. Yesterday they had once again successfully thwarted one of Xana's plots, so they had at least a few days respite before the evil supercomputer could pull something else. Leaning against the tree next to him was Jeremy, typing away at his laptop. As usual, Jeremy was attempting to figure out how to materialize Aelita.  
  
Geez, he's got it bad, Od thought with a chuckle. Of course, he's not the only one, he thought as he looked out across the lawn to where Ulrich and Yumi were playing an impromptu game of tag. Everyone's in love with someone….except me. Od frowned at this thought. No, that's not true. I am in love with someone, he thought, watching as Ulrich took Yumi down in a tickle fight. But he doesn't love me. This time his sigh was filled with a lonely sort of remorse, and he stood up to try and walk it off. He's your best friend, Od. They both are. You have got to get over him and let them be. Od was so lost in thought that he didn't see someone rushing up in front of him.  
  
"Oof! Would you watch where you're going, you little misfit?" Sissy snapped. Od rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.  
  
"Oh, sorry, Sissy. Guess I wasn't paying attention," he said as he walked around her. Sissy looked at him oddly for a second then smiled.  
  
"You know what? That's alright. I was looking for you anyway," she said in a sickly-sweet voice.  
  
"Oh, yeah?" Od replied warily, instantly on guard.  
  
"Yeah, my da- I mean, the principal needs you in his office. You should hurry," she said while walking off in the opposite direction. Sighing again, Od merely shrugged and headed to the principal.   
  
At the principal's office, Od knocked lightly and entered when he heard a voice say, "Come in." There was someone sitting in front of the principal's desk, but Od focused on the older man first.   
  
"Um, Sissy said you wanted to see me, sir?" he said softly, moving a little closer to the desk. The principal frowned.  
  
"She did, did she?" He exhaled deeply, mumbling, "that girl, I swear." Letting a moment pass, the principal looked up with a smile. "Actually, she was supposed to come here to assist our new student, but I suppose you'll do. Do you mind showing someone around for a while, Od?" Od shrugged.  
  
"Sure, I can do that."  
  
"Good," the man said, standing and motioning for the other occupant of the room to do so as well. "Od, I'd like you to meet Greg, our newest student." Greg was about a foot taller than Od, with shoulder-length black hair tinted red in spots. He wore a long-sleeve, button-up shirt tucked into a nice pair of slacks, giving him an upper-class air that was only tainted by the fact that his clothes were all black and he wore leather commando boots rather than the penny-loafers Od had expected. "Greg, this is Od, your student guide. Just tell him what your room number is, and he'll take you there. Then he can take you through your schedule.." Greg seemed to size Od up for a moment, just as Od had done to him, then gave Od a smile that made his legs feel like jell-o.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Od," Greg said in a soft tenor voice.   
  
"Yeah," was all Od could say, then he shook himself. "Well, we should get on with the tour, I guess. Follow me, and we'll head to the dorms first." Od walked swiftly out of the room, using the extra seconds alone to compose himself and try to tamp down the heat in his face. Down, boy. Just because he smiled at you doesn't mean he likes you. He's probably straight, so just keep your mouth shut unless you have something useful to say, got it? After he finished berating himself, he turned to see if Greg was behind him and came nose-to-pecs with Greg's chest. Trailing his gaze upward, he found himself receiving that same knee-weakening smile and gulped. "Um, ready to go?" he asked, barely avoiding a squeak. Greg merely nodded, and Od headed out to begin the tour.  
  
In the dorms, Od was pointing out the finer points of the rooms to Greg as he unpacked a little.  
  
"So, yeah, these rooms kinda suck, but you get used to them." They both laughed, and Greg sat down on the bed next to Od. Od fidgeted for a moment, trying to keep his mind on the task at hand. "I, uh, I guess we should check out your classes next, huh?"  
  
"Oh, yeah," Greg said and pulled a sheet of paper from his back pocket. "Here's my schedule."   
  
"Wow, you have the same classes as me," Od said, frowning slightly. "That's weird."  
  
"Really? Why's that?" Greg asked, leaning in close to look at the paper. Od cleared his throat and willed his heartbeat to regulate.  
  
"Well, it's just…that is, you seemed older than me," Od explained. Greg chuckled.  
  
"That's because I failed last year. I should be a year ahead of you, but then again, that is the main reason my parents sent me here, ya'know? My parents are real high class, and they couldn't have a failure for a son. They thought maybe a boarding school would get me away from the 'distractions' of normal teenage life. Don't know where they got that idea." Greg grinned. Od nodded.  
  
"So, your parents are high society, huh? You do seem a little…"  
  
"Preppy?" Greg supplied. Od grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, well, I promised my mom I'd dress up for the meeting with the principal. If you can wait a minute, though, I'd really like to get comfortable before we go on." Od shrugged and gestured for Greg to do what he needed. Undoing the cuffs of his sleeves, Greg stood in front of his mirror and untucked his shirt then started to unbutton it. Od watched as the shirt fell open to reveal a black ribbed muscle shirt, but instead of taking the outer shirt off, Greg picked up a bag he had set out earlier and unzipped it. Od stared in mute fascination as the older boy began applying a white base to his face and neck, followed by thick eyeliner to highlight his blue eyes and black lipstick. Running a hand through his hair, giving it that mussed up 'just-got-out-of-bed' look, he turned to Od and smiled. "All done."   
  
Suddenly Od realized that he'd forgotten how to breathe. 


End file.
